<p>About the Author</p>Richard Osman is an author, producer and television presenter. His first three novels, The Thursday Murder Club, The Man Who Died Twice and The Bullet That Missed, were multi-million-copy record-breaking bestsellers around the world. The Last Devil To Die is his fourth novel. He lives in London with his wife, Ingrid, and their cat, Liesl.
<p>Dedication</p>To Fred and Jessie Wright, with love and thanks.
You will always be the start of my story.
<p>Prologue</p>Thursday, 27th December, eleven p.m.
Kuldesh Sharma hopes he’s in the right place. He parks up at the end of the dirt track, hemmed in on all sides by trees, ghoulish in the darkness.
He had finally made up his mind at about four this afternoon, sitting in the back room of his shop. The box was sitting on the table in front of him, and ‘Mistletoe and Wine’ was playing on the radio.
He made two phone calls, and now here he is.
He switches off his headlights and sits in total darkness.
It’s a hell of a risk, that’s for sure. But he’s nearly eighty years old, so when better to take that risk? What’s the worst that can happen? They find him and kill him?
They would surely do both, but would that be so bad?
Kuldesh thinks about his friend Stephen. How he looks now. How lost, how quiet, how reduced. Is that the future for him too? What fun they used to have, the whole lot of them. The noise they would make.
The world is becoming a whisper to Kuldesh. Wife gone, friends falling. He misses the roar of life.
And then in walked the man with the box.
Somewhere in the distance a faint haze of light plays through the trees. There is engine noise in the cold silence. It is starting to snow, and he hopes the drive back to Brighton won’t be too treacherous.
A sweep of light crosses his back windscreen, as another car approaches.
Boom, boom, boom. There’s that old heart of his. He’d almost forgotten it was there.
Kuldesh doesn’t have the box with him now. It is quite safe though, and that will keep him safe for the time being. That is his insurance. He still needs to buy a bit of time. And if he can, then, well …
The headlights of the approaching car dazzle his mirrors, and then switch off. The wheels crunch to a halt, the engine idles, and all is darkness and silence once again.
Here we go, then. Should he get out? He hears a car door close, and footsteps start their approach.
The snow is heavier now. How long will this take? He’ll have to explain about the box, of course. A bit of reassurance, but then, he hopes, he’ll be on his way before the snow turns to ice. The roads will be deadly. He wonders if –
